May 24, 2016

Dodge City KS

I will never forget this storm chase. On the morning of May 24, we woke up in Plainview, Texas, after catching an unbelievable series of after-dark tornadoes near Northfield the night before. I targeted the town of Meade, Kansas, just east of the dryline and near to where I expected a lingering outflow boundary to establish itself.

We raced north and arrived at my target just as storms began to fire, then continued east and north to near the town of Minneola, ahead of an explosive supercell that was quickly becoming dominant and showing signs of rotation. Within half an hour the first tornado of the event touched down just to our northwest, and for the next two hours we witnessed the series of powerful, long-lived and photogenic tornadoes that sliced through the area around Minneola and Dodge City.

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In hindsight (20/20) I probably could have gotten us a little closer… But, at our location we were totally removed from chaser traffic, we were safely positioned and out of harm’s way for the entire duration of the chase, and we had stunning views of tornado after tornado that we just stood out and watched!

Perhaps what made this unforgettable chase the most special was sharing it with Mike, as well as Anne, Mackay and Scott, some of my best friends… and now kickass chasers. And, to top off an already unbelievable day, mother nature threw in the most stunning mammatus display I have ever seen. What a day.